Conventions of Descriptive Essays Illustrated by Sample Paragraphs

The thick, burnt scent of roasted coffee tickled the tip of my nose
just seconds before the old, faithful alarm blared a distorted top-forty
through its tiny top speaker. Wiping away the grit of last night's sleep, the
starch white sunlight blinded me momentarily as I slung my arm like an
elephant trunk along the top of the alarm, searching for the snooze button.
While stretching hands and feet to the four posts of my bed, my eyes
opened after several watery blinks. I crawled out of the comforter, edging
awkwardly like a butterfly from a cocoon, swinging my legs over the side
of the bed. The dusty pebbles on the chilled, wood floor sent ripples
spiraling from my ankles to the nape of my neck when my feet hit the
floor. Grabbing the apricot, terri-cloth robe, recently bathed in fabric
softener and October wind, I knotted it tightly at my waist like a
prestigious coat of armor and headed downstairs to battle the morning.

Spatial-Order Description: Show the reader where things are located from your perspective.

Billy Ray's Pawn Shop and Lawn Mower Repair looked like a
burial ground for country auction rejects. The blazing, red, diesel fuel tanks
beamed in front of the station, looking like cheap lipstick against the pallid,
wrinkled texture of the parking lot sand. The yard, not much larger than
the end zone at General G. Patton High School on the north end of town,
was framed with a rusted metallic hedge of lawn mowers, banana seat
bicycles, and corroded oil drums. It wasn't a calico frame of rusted parts,
but rather an orchestra of unwanted machinery that Billy Ray had
arranged into sections. The yellow-tanked mowers rested silently at the
right of the diesel fuel. Once red, now faded orange, mowers stood at
attention to the left. The oil barrels, jaded and pierced with holes, bellared
like chimes when the wind was right. The bikes rested sporadically
throughout the lot. In the middle of it all was the office, a faded, steel roof
supported by cheap two-by-fours and zebra paneling. Billy Ray was at
home, usually, five blocks east of town on Kennel Road.

This handout was written by Heidi Everett and
revised for LEO by Judith Kilborn for the Write Place, St. Cloud State
University. It may be copied for educational purposes only. If you copy
this document, please include our copyright notice and the name of the
writers; if you revise it, please add your name to the list of writers.